How do I format a date in Power Apps?

Wrap it in Text() with a format string, e.g. Text(Today(), "mmmm d, yyyy") returns "July 29, 2026". The format string is built from tokens: yyyy for year, mmmm for full month name, dd for two-digit day, and so on.

What does [$-en-US] mean in a Power Apps date format?

It is a language tag that forces the format string to be interpreted in a fixed locale (US English) rather than the user's language. Without it, a published app can throw 'the language is not supported' or interpret month/day tokens differently for users in other regions. Prefix custom format strings with [$-en-US] to make them portable.

Why is mm sometimes month and sometimes minutes?

Power Fx disambiguates by position. mm after a year or day token means month; mm after an hour token (h or hh) means minutes. If you need minutes standalone, keep it next to the hour: "hh:mm".

How do I get the first or last day of the month?

First day: Date(Year(Today()), Month(Today()), 1). Last day: EOMonth(Today(), 0), or DateAdd(Date(Year(Today()), Month(Today()) + 1, 1), -1, TimeUnit.Days).

Power Apps Date Formatting: Text() Format Tokens & Recipes

Date formatting in Power Apps is the Text() function plus a format string built from tokens. Get the tokens right and you can render any date or time exactly how you want, get the locale prefix wrong and your app breaks for users in another region.

The basic shape

Text(Today(), "[$-en-US]mmmm d, yyyy") // → "July 29, 2026"

The full format-token table

Mix and match these in the format string. Literal characters (commas, slashes, spaces) pass through as-is.

Token	Meaning	Example
yyyy	4-digit year	2026
yy	2-digit year	26
mmmm	Full month name	July
mmm	Short month name	Jul
mm	2-digit month	07
m	Month, no leading zero	7
dddd	Full weekday	Wednesday
ddd	Short weekday	Wed
dd	2-digit day	29
d	Day, no leading zero	9
hh	2-digit hour	09
h	Hour, no leading zero	9
mm (after h)	2-digit minutes	05
ss	2-digit seconds	07
AM/PM	12-hour meridiem	PM
[$-en-US]	Locale prefix (portability)	n/a

mm is context-sensitive. After a year or day it means month; after an hour token (h/hh) it means minutes. Keep minutes next to the hour: "hh:mm AM/PM".

Why you should prefix with [$-en-US]

A custom format string without a language tag is interpreted in the user's locale at runtime. That means the same app can render differently, or throw "The language is not supported", for a user in another region. Prefixing with [$-en-US] pins the interpretation so your tokens always mean what you wrote:

Portable vs fragile

Text(Now(), "[$-en-US]dddd, mmmm d 'at' h:mm AM/PM")  // same everywhereText(Now(), "dddd, mmmm d")                           // depends on user locale

For the built-in DateTimeFormat enum values (e.g. Text(d, DateTimeFormat.LongDate)) you don't need the prefix, those already respect locale on purpose. Use the prefix for custom token strings.

Recipes

Relative time (min / hr ago)

If(    DateDiff(dt, Now(), TimeUnit.Minutes) < 60,    Text(DateDiff(dt, Now(), TimeUnit.Minutes)) & " min ago",    Text(DateDiff(dt, Now(), TimeUnit.Hours)) & " hr ago")

First and last day of the month

// First dayDate(Year(Today()), Month(Today()), 1) // Last day - either worksEOMonth(Today(), 0)DateAdd(Date(Year(Today()), Month(Today()) + 1, 1), -1, TimeUnit.Days)

Add / subtract time

DateAdd(Today(), 7, TimeUnit.Days)      // a week outDateAdd(Now(), -3, TimeUnit.Months)     // three months agoDateDiff(startDate, endDate, TimeUnit.Days)  // span in days

Parse text into a real date

DateValue("2026-07-29")            // date onlyDateTimeValue("2026-07-29 14:30")  // date + time// Pass a language tag if the text is locale-specific:DateValue("29/07/2026", "en-GB")

Timezone gotchas

Now() and Today() are local to the user's device. Values stored in SharePoint/Dataverse are typically UTC. When a saved time looks "off by a few hours," you're seeing UTC-vs-local. Convert explicitly with TimeZoneOffset():

UTC ↔ local

// Stored UTC → show localDateAdd(utcValue, -TimeZoneOffset(utcValue), TimeUnit.Minutes) // Local → UTC for storageDateAdd(localValue, TimeZoneOffset(localValue), TimeUnit.Minutes)

Comparing a date-only picker to a stored datetime? Strip the time first with DateValue(Text(stored)) or compare against a range, or a 23:00 UTC value can land on the "wrong" day for the user.